What a difference a day makes...

Birthday!
Last night, Frank and I went to Sullivans Restaurant within the Fifth Avenue Mall in downtown Anchorage. What, you might ask, would Frank and I be doing in a mall of all places on a Wednesday night? Good question. Frank, for his birthday, needed wool pants, and the best place to get those in Anchorage is Nordstrom, which is not actually in the mall, but directly opposite the mall. Once Frank bought his pants and I took my customary scope-out of the store, we crossed the street to go to dinner at Sullivans.

Sullivans did not open for another 20 minutes, so we decided to hang out for a half hour. The Fifth Street mall is a strange mix of your everyday mall stores combined with gift shops to cater to the summer tourist invasion. There's your Banana Republic, but also an Iditarod memorabilia store, for example. On the bottom floor, the mall officials had closed off the area in order to get ready for some massive hiking boot sale.

The restaurant itself was really nice. I know Sullivan's is a chain, but did well to hide this fact. The decor inside was tasteful -- dark wood, leather-like booths, and an open kitchen. The high ceiling and tasteful photographs on the wall contributed to the sense of elegance in the place.

The food was great. I ordered a mixed green salad with raspberry vinagrette and a filet mignon. Both were well executed. Frank had a porterhouse that tasted wonderful as well and probably the best iceberg wedge salad I have ever tasted. For dessert, Frank and I were given a wonderfully light and fluffy rasberry souffle that was incredible.

Anyways, a good time was had, if you have a Sullivan's near you, you should check it out.

Rockin' on Vicodin
As a belated birthday present, Frank had minor oral surgery to repair skin around a lower tooth. Some of the unfortunate post-op conditions:
1) No carbonation -- i.e. no diet coke.
2) Must eat soft, semi-solid foods for the first week, no straws, popcorn, peanuts, or carbonation.
3) No strenuous physical activity.
4) This is the kicker -- limit speaking as much as possible for the next three days.

I picked him up about 30 minutes ago to get a Frosty so that he could start his vicodin. It's such an impressive drug -- by the time we got home (we only live about 5 mins from a Wendy's), he was already feeling the effects of the drug. The good news is, the surgery was successful, and the patient appears to be doing just fine.

So everyone send postive post-op vibes to Frank for a speedy recovery!